Shower actuating mechanism



Sept. 24, 1957 o. RICHARDS SHOWER ACTUATING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 19, 1954 .lPl.

INVENTOR. DWIGHT RICHARDS ATTORNEYS Sept. 24, 1957 c s 2,807,501

SHOWER ACTUATING MECHANISM Filed July 19, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. DWIGHT RICHARDS ATTORNEKS p 1957 D. RICHARDS 2,807,501

SHOWER ACTUATING MECHANISM 4 Filed July 19, 1954 a Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. DW/GH 7' RICHARDS A T TORNEVS United States Patent SHOWER ACTUATING MECHANISM Dwight Richards, Orinda, Califi, assignor, by mesnc assignments, to Dart-Oliver Incorporated, Stamford, Conn, a corporation of Delaware Application July 19, 1954, Serial No. 444,098

1 2 Claims, (Cl. 299-66) This invention relates to and in general has for its object the provision of a reciprocating shower for cleaning the slotted. screens. of paper pulp strainers.

Pulp for making high grade paper such as stock for stationery should be free of relatively coarse slivers and shower passes through the piston.

A further object of this invention is the provision in combination of a pulp strainer includinga screen having a series of parallel slots, and of a shower arranged to travel in parallelism with said slots.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth-at length in the following description where that form of the invention which has been selected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the present specification, is outlined in full. In said drawings, one form of the invention is shown, but it is to be understood that it is not limited to such form, since the invention as set forth in the claims may be embodied in other forms. 7

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a reciprocating-shower embodying the objects of this invention.

Fig. 2 is a righthand end view of the shower illustrated in Fig. 1- with an end wall partially broken away so as to reveal its interior construction.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the shower illustrated in Fig.

Fig. 4 is a-n enlarged fragmentary detail of a portion of the shower illustrated in Fig. 3-.

Fig, 5 is a-vertical longitudinal midsectionoithe cylinder and piston ofthe reciprocating shower illustratedin the above figures. I Y

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentarysectional detail oi the lefthand end of the structure illustrated in Fig. 5'.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail of the ri-ghthand end of thestructure illustrated in Fig. 5.

Fig 8 is a schematic drawing .of' the control system used in conjunction with the reciprocating shower illus-' trated in the above'figures. i 1

As illustrated in these figures, the shower embodying the objects of my invention is mounted in a hood generally designated by the reference numeral 1 and including a top 2, sides 3 and 4, and ends Sand 6 Formed integrally with the ends 5 and 6 and extending outwardly there from are flanges 7 and? 8- for sealing the. unit'to a pulp straineri-n parallelism with the slotted screen 9' thereof, said unit being supported cantilever wi'se from. the :floor by cross-arms 10: extending through the side 3;

Welded to the underside of the top 2 is a bracket or angle 11, the inner ends of the cross-arms 10, as best shown in Fig. 2, being anchored to the vertical web of the angle 11.

Depending from the lefthand end of the hood 1, as viewed in Figuresl and 3, is a shower assembly supporting frame including a top plate 12 screwed to the angle 11 and. hood top 2, a flanged end plate 13 secured to and extending. through the left end 5 of the hood 1, and an interior end plate 14 secured to and depending from the right end of the top plate 12. Optionally this threesided supporting structure can be completely closed by sides 15 and 16 and a bottom 17 so as to maintain the interior thereof clean.

Extending through the lefthand end'supporting platev 13 and through the adjacent hood end Sis a cylinder 18. To prevent the egress of water through the hood at this point, O-rings 19 are recessed within the plate 13 for sealing engagement with the cylinder 18.

Thedetails of construction of the cylinder assembly are best illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7, from which it. is to be noted that the righthand end of the cylinder 18 is mounted in and sealed to a flanged cylinder head 19, an O-ring 2]; recessed therein being provided for this purpose. Similarly, the lefthand end of the cylinder 18 is closed by a cylinder head 22 provided with a flange 23, an Q-ring 24 being recessed in said flange for sealing, engagement with said cylinder.

Slidably accommodated within the cylinder 18 is an annular piston generally designated by the reference numetal 25 including an inner member 26 terminating at its right end in a flange 27. Surrounding the member 26 is a flanged ring 28, a cup leather 29 being disposed between these two. membersin sealing engagement with the interior walLoi the cylinder 18. Capping the left. end of the ring, 28 is a cup-shaped member 31 provided at its inner endwith a radially extending flange 3:2 and dis.- posed Within the annular channel formed by the adjacent ends of the. ring 28. and member 31 is a cup leather 33. Extending through the cylinder 18 coaxially therewith is a: sleeve, 34, the lefthand end thereof being accommodatedwithin in a reeessformed in the righthand end of the member 26 and anchored to the member 26 by a screw 35; Receivable with a recess. 36 formed in the lefthand end of. the member 26 is a cup leather 37 having an inwardly extending flange clamped between the adjacent ends of the members 26 andZtl,v screws 38 being used for this. purpose.

Although. the lefthand end of the sleeve 34 is. dead-- ended in the annular piston 25, its righthand end extends: through the. cylinder "head 19.. From an inspection of Fig ures 5 and 7, it is tobe noted that the sleeve 34 slides within a bearing bushing 39 recessed in the cylinder head 19 and is made water-tight therewith by a seal 41 and packing 42. These latter two members are held in place by a cap 43 fastened to the cylinder head 19 by screws 44.

Threaded intothe lefithand. end cylinder head 22 is a fitting 45 communicating through a line 416, with a sourceof water under pressure. Similarly, the righthand end cyl' inder head is provided with a fitting 4.7 for establishing communication between the interior of the cylinder 18= through a passageway- 48 and. a sourceoi water under pressure through a line 49. It will, therefore, be seen. that if water under pressure is alternately delivered to the: lines 416 and 419, the piston 25 and its associated sleeve: 34 will be caused: to reciprocate alongtheaxis of the sleeve: 18'.

Extending: into the: sleeve: 3:4; coaxially therewith and fixed. thereto is. a: pipe 511 sealed to the piston 25 by the cupzleather il l" and by an Ol-ring 52 recessed in the: cylinder head 22;.

As best illustrated in Figures 1; and 3, the righthand;

cylinder head 19 is held in proper spaced relationship with the supporting plate 13 by the rods 53 extending through spacing sleeves 54. Similarly the. lefthand cylinder head 22 is anchored to the supporting plate 13 by the rods 55.

Extending between the interior end plate 14 and the righthand end 6 of the spray hood is a guide rod 56, and slidable thereon is a sleeve 57. Swiveled to the sleeve 57 by a yoke 58 is a manifold 59 terminating at its lower end in a connecting flange 61. Formed in the lefthand side of the manifold 59 is a bore 62 and extending through this bore is the righthand end of the sleeve 34. As shown in Figure 5, the free end of the sleeve 34 is closed by a disc 63 and is formed with diametrically opposed ports 64 and as shown in Figure 4, the free end of the sleeve 34 and its disc 63 are sealed in a circular recess 65 formed in the righthand side of the manifold 59. To effect a water-tight seal between the lefthand side of the manifold 59 and the sleeve 34,1a seal ring 66 is recessed in the manifold about the sleeve 34 and secured thereto by a ring 67 fastened by screws 68. Welded to the disc 63 (Fig. is a threaded stud 69 extending through the manifold 59 (Fig. 4) and secured thereto by a nut 71. As a result of this construction, the manifold is formed as an integral part of the sleeve 34, reciprocates therewithand is partially supported from the guide rod 56. From Figures 4 and 5, it will be seen that water passing through the pipe 51 from left to right is in open communication through the ports 64 with the manifold 59.

Connected to the flange 61 of the manifold 59 ,by a mating flange 72 (Figs. 1 and 2) is a shower head 73 including a longitudinally extending manifold pipe 74 and transverse cross pipes 75 communicating therewith. Attached tothe lower sides of each of the cross pipes 75 are spray nipples 76 arranged to produce a fan type of spray as indicated in dash line in Fig. 2.

As previously stated, the delivery of water under pressure alternately to the pipes 46 and 47 in a predetermined cycle will cause the shower head .73 to move back and forth within its spray hood 1 over the strainer screen 9 in parallelism with the slots thereof. Simultaneously, water introduced into the lefthand end of the pipe 51 enters the sleeve 34, passes throughthe ports 64 thereof into themanifold 59 into the shower head 73 and through the nozzles 76. Upon each return stroke of the piston and the shower head (from right to left, as viewed in Figures 1, 3 and 5), water entrained in the system can escape only through the shower head, for, as will hereinafter be more fully explained, the intake to the pipe 51 is blocked off and the internal volumetric capacity of the system is being reduced as the sleeve 34 moves to the left.

Secured to the top 2 of the spray hood are two or more hooks or eyes 77 by which the unit can be positioned over its associated pulp strainer or removed therefrom. For convenience in observing the operation of the unit, the sides of the hood '1 are provided with windows 78.

Control system As diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 8, the reciprocating shower above described is under the control of an electric timer 81 in circuit with a pair of solenoid operated valves 82 and 83. Communicating with the intake of each of the valves 82 and 83. is a common line 84 connected through a line 85 and strainer 86 with a pipe 87 in turn communicating with a source of water under pressure. The outlet of the valve 82 is connected through a line 88 with the diaphragm chamber 89 of a diaphragm operated valve 91- controlling the flow of water from the line 87 to the line 46 through an intermediate speed control valve 92." The outlet side of the valve 83 communicates through the line 49 with the righthand side of the cylinder 18. The timer serves to alternately open and close and close and open the valves 82 and 83,

whereas the valve 92 serves to determine the speed of the washing stroke of the unit. Upon the energization of the solenoid associated with the valve 82 the valve 82 opens to allow water under pressure from the line 84 to pass into the diaphragm chamber 89 thereby to in turn open the valve 91. With the valve 91 open, water from the line 87 passes through the speed control valve into the line 46 and through this line into the lefthand end of the cylinder 18 where it acts on the piston 25 to move it and its associated shower head to the right.

The valve 91 in addition to being connected to the cylinder 18 is also connected through the pipe 51 with the shower head 73 and consequently the ,water under pressure from the line 87 is delivered to shower head 73 and its associated nipples 76 concurrently with its movement to the right as viewed in Figures 1, 3 and 5. During this phase of the cycle of operation of the unit, the solenoid valve 83 has remained closed.

When the shower head has reached its extreme righthand position, the timer 81 operates to close the solenoid circuit of the valve 82 and to open the solenoid circuit of the valve 83 whereupon the diaphragm valve 91 closes and the valve 83 opens. Water under pressure from the line 87 can then flow through the strainer 86, line 84, valve 83 and line 49 into the righthand end of the cylinder 18 thereby to cause the piston 25 and the shower head 73 to move to the left. In moving to the left, the piston 25 forces the water contained in the left sideof the cylinder 18 back through the speed control valve 92 and into the pipe 51 and out through the shower head 73. During the closure of the valve 91, the water contained in the diaphragm chamber 89 escapes to atmosphere through an outlet 93 incorporated in the valve 82. The valve 83 is similarly provided with an outlet 94 for the escape of water from the righthand side of the cylinder 18 during the movement of the piston 25 to the right.

In this manner then the timer 81 serves to control the valves 82 and 83 to alternately deliver water under pressure to first one side and then the other side of the cylinder 18 and to deliver wash water to the shower head 73 during only the forward or washing stroke of the piston 25. Independently of, but within the limits of, the cycle of operation of the timer 81, the valve 92 serves to control the speed of the forward or washing stroke of the piston 25.

It should be particularly noted that the construction of this unit permits the wash water to be delivered to the spray head through the cylinder 18 thereby obviating the use of the flexible hoses heretofore resorted to.

I claim:

1. A reciprocating shower unit comprising: a closedended cylinder; a shower water supply pipe extending through and fixed to one end of said cylinder in parallelism therewith; a piston slidably disposed'within said cylinder and over said pipe; a sleeve attached and sealed to one end of said piston and extending slidably through the other end of said cylinder and in water-tight engagement therewith, said sleeve circumscribing said pipe; a shower head fixed to and communicating with the external free end of said sleeve; and means for alternately connecting each end of said cylinder to a source of water under pressure and means for connecting said pipe to a source of water under pressure only during the outward movement of said piston.

2. A reciprocating shower unit comprising: a closed ended cylinder; a shower water supply pipe extending through and fixed to one end of said cylinder inparallelism therewith; a piston slidably disposed within said cylinder and over said pipe; a sleeve attached and sealed to one end of said piston and extending slidably through the other end of said cylinder and in water-tight engagement therewith, said sleeve circumscribing said pipe; a shower head fixed to and communicating with the external free end of said sleeve; means for alternately delivering water under pressure to the ends of said cylinder and 5 means for delivering water to said pipe only concurrently 2,581,781 with the delivery'of water to one end of said cylinder. 2,588,088 2,65 8,623 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 469 943 1,230,328 Sailor June 19, 1917 6 Ahlfors Jan. 8, 1952 Cover Mar. 4, 1952 Thornhill Nov. 10, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS Canada Dec. 12, 1950 

